u/ArmadilloChance3778

Hello, I have a problem. I've transitioned to a wfpb diet a couple of months ago and my digestion is getting worse instead of better. Every morning, I need the restroom 4-5 times to go #2 (sorry for the tmi). All in all, I need to get up 1 hour earlier just so I can be sure to be all empty before I leave the house.

I eat what I think is a very healthy diet with legumes (chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils and tofu) daily, whole grains, arugula, fruit, other veggies. I really enjoy eating this way but my gut seems to hate it. I get around 50 grams of fiber a day and am wondering if this is too much. Maybe I should switch to peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and skip the beans?

Im grateful for any tips, insights and experiences on how to resolve this issue.

Disclaimer: I know that veganism isnt a diet. This isnt about ethics or ideology but solely about nutrition.

Recently, I stumbled over a 2022 umbrella review on tandfonline that questions what I thought I knew after reading dozens of studies that claimed health benefits with a wfpb diet. The authors stringently tested and recalculated a multitude of studies and reviews (they describe the exact methologies in their paper).

I ask you for your thoughts and interpretation of the study:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10408398.2022.2075311#d1e857

Does this mean that a wfpb diet is pretty pointless in regards to health since there is only weak evidence and that the health benefits of a vegan diet have been overhyped?

Disclaimer: I know that veganism isnt a diet, so I ask any lurking vegans to not wag their finger at me.

I originally came to veganism over the supposed health benefits, ethics came later to me. Both my parents have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and my father had a heart attack and was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Naturally, I want to avoid to step in their footprints. After reading a lot of papers online, a vegan wfbp diet seemed like the way to go.

Recently, I stumbled over an 2022 umbrella review on tandfonline that questions what I thought I knew. The authors stringently tested and recalculated a multitude of studies and reviews (they describe the exact methologies in their paper) and concluded that "there is weak evidence that a vegan diet might be associated with a lower risk of mortality and cancer incidence".

*Weak* evidence that it *might* be associated, when a bunch of the studies I read made it sound like it was set in stone that a vegan diet is best. The umbrella review also notes that a vegan diet can raise triglycerides (which, I guess, stems from high intake of refined carbs and shouldnt be a thing on a wfpb diet).

Im still not 100% convinced that it is pointless to try and influence my future health, so I ask you for your thoughts and interpretation of the study:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10408398.2022.2075311#d1e857

Do you think I have a chance to avoid such a fate as my fathers if I continue wfpb? Or would I be better off including animal products here and there? Im conflicted and frustrated since I thought I had found the solution and now it looks like it all was a pipe dream. Crossposting to r/nutrition, maybe.

I recently posted here and got quite a few vegans answering. Unsurprisingly, they were condescending, hostile and patronizing. My question is, if it upsets you so much to see people questioning and and doubting the vegan diet, why do you follow this sub? Is it masochism or the need to prove to yourself that you are better than us? Youre really making vegans as a whole look bad.

I believed for a long time that all you really need to supplement on a vegan diet is b12, maybe calcium and iodine. Unsurprisingly, even though I consumed a supposedly healthy minimally processed plant based diet, my health is not the best. I exercise a lot so I tend to pick up on dips in my performance pretty quickly and I noticed that I overall feel weaker during my workouts.

So, I read up on nutrients that may be lacking in a vegan diet. Turns out that creatine, carnosine, taurine and DHA and EPA are of special concern.

While the body can manufacture creatine and taurine, it is likely not enough for optimal health. Carnosine can only be made by the body if it has beta-alanine which is only found in animal products.

DHA and EPA can theoretically be supplemented, but recent research shows that the supplementation accelerates cognitive decline (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2274580726000932).

Furthermore, in a study regarding sufficient amino acid consumtion of vegans it was shown that almost half of the test subjects lacked lysine and leucine, two essential amino acids (https://www.healthline.com/health-news/vegan-protein-may-lack-essential-amino-acids).

Bottom line: vegan "doctors" like Greger, McDougall, Barnard make it seem like all you need to worry about is b12 when in reality there is a plethora of nutrients missing on a vegan diet and supplementation may have negative effects depending on the nutrient in question.

Hello, Ive been on a little weight loss journey for 3 weeks. First week I averaged 1443 cal (lost nothing), second week was 1294 cal (lost 1 kg), third week was 1264 average (lost nothing).

Should I reduce my calories to 1200 sharp to try and get the weight moving again or am I too impatient? Im 5'1 for reference and currently 108 lbs wishing to get back to 100 (i gained from being on zyprexa).

I also walk about 1 hour a day and do calisthenics 3 times a week and spinning twice a week for 30 minutes, but asides from that, Im just sitting at home (currently between jobs). I appreciate any advice!

I never used to have problems with working out consistently for years before. Nowadays, Im on a weight loss journey again bc I gained weight on zyprexa (still on it bc otherwise my depression spirals) and I find myself unmotivated and looking fir excuses (mainly too tired, too lethargic) to not exercise.

I tell myself to just do it, its non negotiable and Ill feel better after the workout, but Id still like inspiration from you guyss how to rekindle my desire to workout.

It also doesnt help that Ill start a full time position in September and am pretty sure that I legitimately wont have the energy to keep exercising then as much as I do now, so itll be mostly trying to maintain any level of fitness with 2-3 workouts per week whereas now I get 5 (bodyweight and cardio on seperate days).

ETA

I did my workout and it was really good! Thanks a lot to everybody who shared strategies, tips and some tough love! I'm new to this community and I really like it here ❤️

I've been consistently exercising for the last 15 years and never had a problem sticking to my routine. It was just something I did. I'm currently on a weight loss journey (again) after gaining weight on zyprexa.

And I'm finding myself trying to make excuses to not exercise, feeling toi lethargic and kinda meh towards exercise. It doesnt spark the joy anymore it used to do, or it kinda does during but not before. Im not outright dreading my workouts, Id just prefer if I didnt have ti do them, lol.

So, when you feel like this, what do you tell yourself? I'm telling myself to just do it, youll feel accomplished after, and this has kinda worked but Id like some inspiration from you guys. Thanks so much!

I'll go first:

Believing that I would lose weight if I eat low-fat-everything 😂

Believing that I didn't need to count calories and could just wing it "because I exercise" (bc we all know that exercise burns sooo many calories, right 😆)

What are yours?

For me it was condiments, especially mustard. I always thought it had close to zero calories until I learned that my big spoonful of it in the salad sauce actually is 50 cal.

Might not seem like much, but I'm 5'1 and have to stick to 1200 cal to lose anything so my margin of error is slim.

Anyone else?

I often hear about people enjoying occasional cheat meals and how it helps them stay sane. For me, I went to get some ice cream yesterday and all it did was make me crave more. I was still in a mild deficit for the day bc I did spinning and ate my regular diet meals for my other meals, but these cravings were annoying.

I know that the ice cream probably caused a blood sugar spike and crash which predictably caused hunger, so maybe I just chose poorly but honestly, all I crave are sweets.

What is your experience with cheat meals?

I'm just curious about your experiences. I've recently decided to make use of 2 free months that I have between jobs and to give myself a glow-up, losing weight that has been bothering me for a year (you know how it is when you're busy with work and feel like you can't focus on yourself).

Before, I've tried losing weight going plantbased. Lots of whole foods, around 60 g of fiber a day, decent protein (70g), only homecooked meals and low fat. I was always so hungry during the day and especially in the evening that I would blow my deficit (which was modest at 300 calories) and never lost anything.

Now, in my newest attempt, I follow a different strategy. I stopped eating exclusively plants and added protein so that I get 120 g daily and a bit more fat. The difference in my hunger levels is like night and day and I'm finally able to stick to my deficit and actually make progess.

Have you had a similar experience? Was high protein moderate fats also the key to your weight loss or are you rocking the higher carb lifestyle?

Hello, I want to include more steps into my daily life. The current heat wave makes it difficult and I dont feel safe walking outside late at night when it has cooled down somewhat.

I've been thinking of getting a walking pad, but then I think I could just as well walks laps in my room for an hour. What are your thoughts on that? Would a walking pad be better and is it worth the money?

I know that with a walking pad you can set it to an incline which you cant if youre just pacing your bedroom, but to offset this I could climb the stairs at home 3 or 4 times.

I hope this post now meets the word count criteria, I'd really like to get other peoples perspective on it.

I'm only in a small calorie deficit yet my body sends me crazy hunger signals. My TDEE is around 1550 and I get 1350-1400 daily to lose slowly and sustainably. Im 5'1.

But yesterday at work I got so ravenously hungry that I couldnt last the morning to my lunch break. I had breakfast at 8 am (72 g of oats, 150 g of skyr, 10 g of flaxseeds and an apple) and my lunch is at 1:30 pm. First I had an unplanned apple around 10 am and then I asked for permission to take my lunch at 12:30 bc I was feeling too hungry to bear it. My lunch consisted of 200 g 4% cottage cheese, half a can of sweet corn and tomato, cucumber and carrot.

In the afternoon, I had another unplanned snack (a soft pretzel) bc again I couldnt bear it, and overshot my calorie goal by 50. I know that this is a bad snack but it was the only thing I could get.

When I was in my 20s, I lost weight on 1200 calories and yes I was hungry at times, but not like this! Its maddening. Do you have any tips for me? Im on olanzapine, could this have something to do with how hungry Im feeling? Maybe I need to switch medication.

Hello,

Im looking to lose a few pounds. Im 5'1 and as Im fairly active, I've set my calorie goal to 1400 cals per day. But I always end up very hungry, especially before dinner and before bed. Working and commute mean that I eat dinner at 7 pm, lunch at 1:30 pm, and when I get home Im ravenous. Here is what I eat:

Breakfast is 72 g of oats, 100 g skyr, 1 tblsp flaxseeds and 1 apple

Lunch is 150 g of Pumpernickel bread (1 slice has 98 calories), 200 g of 4% fat cottage cheese and 2 tomatos

Dinner is 60 g cooked rice, or 125 g kidney beans or 1 slice of Pumpernickel with 300 g of veggies and either 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, or 1/2 can of tuna in water, or 100 g tofu. I prefer to eat a cold dinner with raw veggies since I cant even wait 10 minutes for them to heat up in the microwave since Im so hungry.

Late snack is 100 g skyr and 150 g fruit. I try to eat this right before bed at 10 but I often cave around 8:30 pm bc Im hungry again. I drink 3 g of psyllium husk with 2 glasses of water after dinner to get more fullness.

What can I do to improve satiety? Im on Olanzapine and I have the feeling its making me hungrier than I should be, but I need to stay on it for my mental stability.

Drinks during the day are water and black coffee. I exercise 3 times a week (strength training with calisthenics and dumbbells at home). Thanks to everyone who can give me advice!

Hello,

I need to lose at least 6 lbs (which is not a lot, I know) to get back to my previous weight and have my clothes fit right. However I keep caving in when I get hungry, especially at night. I only have a small deficit bc Im short (5'1) and if I have an extra snack, my deficit is gone or Im even in calorie surplus.

Do you have any tips or strategies that I can use to get over the hump and finally make this stick? I am beyond frustrated since this has been going on for months.

My TDEE is 1550 with exercise 1-3 times a week and I try for 1350 calories per day, with an emphasis on protein and fiber. Please help!